ORIGIN

BaT Exclusive: 2-Owner 1967 Jaguar 3.4 MkII

This 1967 Jaguar MkII remains very original, having only ever received new carpets in 1986, a factory color re-spray in 2003, and regular maintenance from new. It was purchased new at a Walnut Creek, California dealership in July 1967 for the wife of the original owner. She kept it until she passed away, and the car was sold to the current owner in 1986 totally original with only 26k miles. He took it to BC where he has had it maintained by the same shop for the last 24 years. It is available in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for $24,500 CDN. Contact us at mail@bringatrailer.com if you are interested.

The car now has 104k miles on the clock and all receipts are available from his ownership. The gray and red combination with steel wheels and hubcaps is striking, like out of an old photograph, and the chrome and trim is complete and in excellent condition.

The dark red interior is all original and in excellent condition. It maintains the factory wheel and radio and could be used for originality reference. The carpets, dash, seats, and door panels are all impressive to look at.

The 3.4L six cylinder runs well and has never been rebuilt. Original details like the glass fuel bowl, metal reservoirs, and stock air filter housing all remain intact and unrestored. have a reconditioned gearbox with clutch and all parts to do the swap if the buyer wants a stick shift.

The car has won awards at shows and been featured in a local lifestyle magazine. Most 60’s Jaguars were in this condition by the late 70’s and then deteriorated further or have been restored. This one retains the look and feel of originality that is difficult to reproduce. Check out the Flickr album slide-show for more details photos.

The Mk 2 or 340 question is still gnawing. From the given original purchase date it’s probably a Mk 2. But I have seen more than one very early 340 with the large Mk 2 bumpers (Jaguar were using up the old stock on hand). Actually Jaguar was starting to “cheapen” the Mk 2 already in 1966 – leather became optional (standard was the ambla), the front spot lights were replaced with horn grilles. Interestingly, this car has the very 240/340-ish hub caps, and it lacks the wood fold-down picnic tables on the backs of the front seats that were so stylish in the Mk 2. From the photos, it’s hard to distinguish between the ambla and the leather. I had a 1967 240 with dark blue ambla, and visually it was indistinguishable from leather (but the nose knows). The only real way to check is the VIN. If it starts with a “1J” it is a very early, transitional, 340…otherwise, it’s a Mk 2.

teenchy has it correct. The Borg-Warner auto of that vintage was widely used. It was called a “Fordomatic” in Ford built cars, Flightomatic in Studes. It was a 3 speed auto but started in second gear unless you pulled the lever into “L” or floored itl A pretty stout trans for the day.

My buddy has one of these with a 351 Cleveland and AOD…otherwise bone stock. A great AmeriCruise car!

To those who state the Borg-Warner transmissions were sourced from Studebaker: though Studebaker used the same transmissions, they (and the Jaguar transmissions) were all sourced from Borg-Warner. (Note that by 1967 Studebaker no longer built cars.) What’s interesting is that Studebaker used the same Dunlop disc brakes as in Jaguars of this era, built under license by Bendix.

This car’s official color is Warwick Grey. I owned a RHD version, same colour (sic) but mine was an automatic. However a later owner changed the color to bright red, used XJ6 VP seats, electric windows, manual gearbox, etc, etc. The car is now described as one of the best in the UK. Last valuation I saw for it was 39,000 pounds. If you want to know more, google “lmc1c jaguar”. So, Eugene, it seems that you can undertake modificactions to the original if you do the rights mods – those made to that car resulted in a much more usable vehicle in a more popular color.

@ Eugene It would be His car and His decision. On a car like this particular Jag, you’ll end up ruining more then you’d make up. However a nut & bolt restoration, you can decide on colour.

But if you’d ask me what I’do, I never change a car’s originality. Look at those light grey MG-B GT’s that were featured here on BAT , 10 years ago no one would have wanted them because of their dull colour scheme. Now they look cool . And this Jag’s colour scheme is very attractive IMHO, it is a very calm colour for the eye, while it’s sort of off white, and much more original then the Racing Green examples which everybody seems to appreciate. What I am trying to say is that most people start with a good attitude, but end over the top, making cars like this trailer queens while you should be driving a car like this on a narrow mounting road, feeling your hart pump and thinking ooooouuuuups, that was a narrow escape, thank God my angel was sitting on my shoulder.

seems these auto transmissions by Borg-Warner got used a lot in imports back then. I had a Volvo 122 with one.same one as in my Moms Rambler wagen at the time. Seemed to shift when it wanted. Still a great car(the Volvo), Koni shocks,Sears radials and pleather wrapped steering wheel! Ya baby!

- – – and my 59 Riley 1.5 came from Kerrisdale – one lady owner until 93/94 until 95 when I bought it from a yackt broker/real estate developer following the All British Field Meet. Not in quite as nice condition as this Jag but good enough for those of us who like patina, I suppose.

I grew up in Vancouver and the street looks very familiar; I’d suspect this is a Kerrisdale car (think old money). She is just lovely. I’m a short ferry ride away now in Victoria and thinking way to seriously about a trip over now. The old dilema – happy wife, or beautiful classic car. Hmm….

Thanks for the clarification. I briefly owned a ’67 340 which came to me in garage-find condition. It was complete and solid and really just needed a mechanical recommissioning to get it back on the road, however someone happened to see it in my garage and wouldn’t take no for an answer on buying it, so off it went and, sadly, that was as close as I ever came to driving one of these. Mine was Silver Sand with Black Ambla interior. Had it been a Red on Black Mk.II, I’d have shooed him off and gotten the thing going….oh well. C’ est la vie!

@ Aaron: as Kevin Gosselin notes, this is a Mk II, not a 340. He’s right about the bumpers and the leather upholstery. And the front has the pair of driving lights that were replaced with vents on the 340. Finally, this car was purchased in July 1967; the 340 wasn’t introduced until September 1967.

I think the same automatic was also used on Mercedes of that period until Mercedes developed their own automatic, also sourced from Studebaker. That was when Mercedes and Studebaker had some links in the marketing of the Mercedes in the US.

Maybe just what I am looking for. But where is the Mk 2 or 340 medallion that should be on the trunk lid. If the seats are plastic, it is a 340. The 340 was an economy model. Personally, I would not buy a old Jaguar that had any rust whatsoever. The cost of repair is astronomical. Better to wait for that rare totally rust free example and pay the price. For me the best quick indicator of tin worm on a superficially nice car, is to check where the door skins wrap around the bottom of the door frames. Then pull the back seat squab out and look for corrosion around the rear spring mounts. Paint bubbling is easy to spot and is a sure indicator of big problems underneath. My best advice re Dunlop brakes: Replace the fronts with Wilwoods and line the rear calipers with brass or stainless steel. Then try to find a dual circuit master cylinder that could save your life. Turkey down heavy. Billy

The automatic is why the price looks reasonable. I had a 3.8 MkII automatic and ended up selling it when the cost to repair the automatic exceeded the price I paid for the car. If my memory is right, the trans is a Borg Warner sourced from Studebaker (!). Mine had a nasty habit of downshifting into 1st halfway around a corner which, on a wet road, produced instant power oversteer. I hope the future owner swaps to a manual if the car is to be driven much.

Aaron – it is a MKII. 1967 was the swing year for these and the 240/340. The latter are most easily identified by the slimmer, by half, bumpers. Less easy to tell with the eyes, but simple with the nose, is that the 240/340 came with Ambla vinyl type interiors in place of leather.

Seems solid and well loved. As mentioned, check for rust.

And the note about the manual conversion, if one was to go through the effort, it would not be to swap in the original ‘crash box’ four speed. You should just swap in a modern 5-speed. There are several kits for this, runs around $5k all in, but you would get most of that back when/if you sold the car.

These cars are pretty easy to work on, (I own 62 MKII 4-speed with overdrive, 3.8) and all the parts are available. I mean, every part. Which is nice.

I like the steel wheels as well. Wish they were in a contrasting color. A red to match the interior would look nice.

This car looks to be in fantastic condition. Rust doesn’t appear to be a big problem here, but any British car of this vintage should be checked carefully. Especially if it’s spent so many years in a saltwater port city. I’d be pulling back the “new” mats for one thing. This one has rust visible along the fender seams in the engine compartment, and bubbling along the front D/S wheel-well. I’d be checking the frame underneath.

In 1982, a teacher at my high school bought one of these in black, with a very nicely preserved London Tan colour leather interior. The paint wasn’t as nice as this one, but it still looked sharp. He drove it into auto shop to see if our class and our auto mechanics teacher could isolate some problem he was having by putting it on the hoist. Well the frame was so rusted out that the car sagged when it was lifted off the ground. That teacher wanted to cry, and I didn’t blame him.

@ Alfaguy – the electrical problems on almost all old cars can be traced to bad grounds. In the shop I worked for years ago (mostly vintage British), the rate of electrical repair that ended up being ground-related was about 9 out of 10. Remove the ground connections, clean them, clean the surface they contact, and apply dielectric grease to everything. If that doesn’t fix it, remove all of the connections one at a time, clean, and applying dielectric grease (replace the bullet connector sleeves with new on British/Italian and anything similar on other marques). This will fix about 99% of any remaining problems. In short, with a $3 tube of dielectric grease and some time/patience, most electrical problems can be easily solved for a long, long time by any average guy/gal in a leisurely weekend. I end up doing this (at least the grounds) to all new (vintage) cars I buy within the first couple of months – saves a lot of Advil.

A great blend of performance and luxury–not as quick as a 3.8, but a lot more affordable. A little unusual to see one in Old English White these days. Seems a fair price for the originality and condition.

Fanfrickintastic. I would love this car so hard. One of my dear friends has an XK150 in the same finish. Not the most exciting color, but very very tasteful, and if it checks out as truly original, it seems very fairly priced.